The World Inside the Box
by CravenJester
Summary: An incident with a precursor box at the Crossroads of the World leaves Shao Jun stranded in a strange land where people bend the elements and animals are straight out of myth and legend. Still, even far from home she has a duty to the world, and what better place for an Assassin than a city of walls and secrets?
1. Prologue

**Alright, this story is just an experiment really that I've had under my belt for a while now and want to get out there to see if there's any interest. I might be doing this with a couple other stories, just tests, mostly short chapters. Still, I hope you enjoy and review if you feel like it.**

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The new bracer felt strangely heavy on Jun's arm as she climbed the tower of the Galata district. She had long ago abandoned the wrist mounted blade in favor of the one hidden in her boot, but she could not deny that this one would have some significant advantages for her in the months to come. _And_ _of course_, she thought, clamping the long metal hook that came as standard onto the ledge and hauling herself over onto the roof, _it is also quite useful on occasions like these. _Rising to her feet she gazed intently over the dark form of Istanbul, or as some of the locals still liked to call it, Constantinople. There were many glittering lights streaming through the windows of the city below, and to Jun, it almost seemed like the world was upside down, as the sky was dark with the heavy form of storm clouds, which had blotted out even the moon's light. The darkness had made the climb more difficult than usual, and Jun had had to move more slowly than she would have liked. She had even slipped a couple times, much to her chagrin, only to catch herself with the strangely intuitive hookblade. Indeed it would not be a stretch to say that the gift from her hosts here in the city had saved her life tonight.

Standing this high up, and this close to the heavens, Jun could feel the coming storm in the air, could taste it on the tip of her tongue. It would come soon, and that meant that she would have to leave before too long, but before then she needed to examine the box that master Auditore had given her. It had saddened her greatly upon her arrival in Istanbul to learn that Ezio had died soon after she had left Firenze, and, although she grieved for him, she was also glad that her master could finally rest easy and leave his old life behind.

Sitting and pressing her back against the wall, Jun pulled out her small travel lantern, and struck a fire stick, another gift from her hosts, against the rough stone, to light the fire inside. The soft warm glow of the lantern illuminated the plain form of the wooden box. Though on the outside the box seemed drab, master Auditore had said that it would prove invaluable should Jun ever find herself in dire need. And although he had also said not to open it until such a time arose, Jun was curious. While she had paid attention to her master's directions for the first few weeks of travel she had eventually tried to open it on the ship to Istanbul. The constant comings and goings of the crew, however, seldom gave her a moment of privacy with which to examine it, and even after her arrival at the stronghold in the city Jun was still reluctant to take the box out in the presence of others. So that was how she found herself here, on the top of the tallest building in the city, in the middle of the night, at the crossroads of the world, with a storm brewing, just to open a tiny wooden box.

Jun smiled quietly as the situation dawned on her. She leaned forwards and picked up the box, turned it in her hands. It was heavy for such a small thing. And it must have been tightly packed, for no matter how much the box moved about it never rattled. There was no key either, which puzzled Jun. Surely something as crucially valuable as the box's contents would need some form of protection. After all, what would happen if it fell into the hands of her enemies? Jun hefted the box. She eyed the latch. A moment of indecision passed through her, and her mentor's warnings echoed in her mind. But her curiosity was too much. She clawed open the latch, and tried to slide the lid up. It didn't move. She tried harder. Nothing. She grunted to herself. Extending the new blade on her wrist, Jun jammed it into the thin slit between the lid and the body of the box and pried with all her might. Nothing. Surely master Auditore hadn't been playing a joke in his old age? There must have been something in the box, but the lid would not budge. _Perhaps this is why the box needs no key,_ Jun thought to herself. She sat back, only just beginning to feel the soft pitter-patter of the rain that was beginning to fall. She stood up with a sigh, sliding the box back into the bag at her waist and extinguishing the fire in her small lantern. Then she began to climb again, right to the very top of the tower. The handholds were becoming treacherous in the dark and the rain, but with the help of the hookblade Jun managed to make her way right to the peak. Now to find a place to land, she thought.

The wind had picked up, and as she cast about the street below with her keen eyes casting about for a soft place to cushion her landing, perhaps a cart of hay or even flowers, her robe whipping about her, she began to feel a tingling. She gasped as she saw the electricity arcing between her fingertips. That was a bad sign. Rain dripped down her face and from the brim of her hood. She could no longer afford to wait on the roof of the tower, but jumping now without a safe place to land would be just as fatal. Then she heard the humming. Soft at first, it grew loudly as the rain drove harder, and soft whistles soon permeated the sound. Jun twisted her body on her perch to see the soft yellow glow emanating from the bag with the box. Struggling to maintain balance, she grabbed the bag, opened it quickly, and stared in awe. The box had opened, and it was no longer a box.

Many of the wooden panels had slid sideways to reveal a metal and glass contraption inside. It glowed faintly with yellow light, and gave of soft vibrations. What was even more amazing was the flickering glowing yellow ball, which it projected. It took Jun a moment to realize that it was a globe, though it didn't match any map she had seen before. Was this some other world maybe? Perhaps one of the other planets. Mars, perhaps? The globe began to fade into the darkness of the night, flickering and sputtering, and the humming died down. The rain, now more driving and with a chilling wind to match, came back to Jun. She shook the box hoping for anything at all, just to keep the image from disappearing before she had a further chance to examine the projection. Then there was a crackle, and just as Jun looked up a blinding flash smashed into the small box in her hands, and then an even brighter yellow light engulfed the peak of the tower.

A small wooden box plummeted to the cobble streets below, and clattered to the ground, steam rising from it in the rain.

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**Cool, yo.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Again, just an extension of the note before. If anyone's interested I can continue this, but not for no reason, so let me know.**

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Zuko blinked his eyes as he lay there, the heavy rain running down his face, trying to regain his eyesight. When he had climbed the mountain he had expected lightning, in fact he had hoped for it, eager to test the new skill his Uncle had taught him. Redirecting lightning. Though he couldn't generate his own, being able to control the flow of electricity, take the world's rage and give it back, it was undeniably tempting. But, apparently he couldn't even do that, what with him being knocked on his back, blinded, and with a ringing in his ears from the sudden yellow lightning that had split the mountain top. He snarled and smashed his fist into the rock beside him.

He sat up, breathing heavily, and waited miserably, soaked to the skin. His hearing returned first, registering the continued crash of lightning and hammering of the rain. Then, slowly, his eyesight began to return. As a firebender he had a natural, albeit slight resistance to fire, so he supposed that was why he was able to recover his vision at all, even if at the moment it was dim and shadowy. He closed his eyes and waited some more. The rain was beginning to die down, now, and he felt like he was able to see well enough to make his way back down the mountain. So he stood, took a few steps, and promptly tripped.

Somehow Zuko managed to land so that he didn't eat a mouthful of rock and dirt. In fact, he was surprised to find that he had landed on something soft and wet and breathing. _Weird, _he thought. _Maybe some mountain creature climbed its way up here and was killed by the strike of lightning_? But Zuko didn't smell burnt flesh, and the being didn't feel like it was feathered, scaled, or furred. In fact it felt surprisingly like a human.

Had he been followed? Was this an enemy, or… Zuko made a start when he felt the being breathe under him. He quickly scrambled off, getting a little distance and trying to get a better look. With vision now relatively clear he could see that the figure wore a dark robe with red trim around the hood. They weren't very large, maybe Zuko's height, though slimmer in the shoulders, and it had what looked like the handle of a sword jutting up over its shoulder. He moved closer and rolled the figure onto its back. It was a girl with long black hair and soft features; she looked like she might have come from a life of luxury except for the weapon on her back and the armoured bracer on her arm. But Zuko couldn't for the life of him figure out how she had wound up on that mountain. She might have followed him, but he didn't recognize her at all and there wasn't anyone at the summit when he had arrived… It was a mystery.

He sat on a rock and contemplated her for a while, rain drumming down around him. What should he do? Should he leave her? It had been hard enough climbing the mountain by himself, getting down would be tricky… Zuko grimaced. Moving over to the figure he bent down and pulled her arms over his shoulders, one on either side, then grabbed her knees, bent forward, and began his way down the mountain.

General Iroh was surprised when his nephew returned with an unconscious stranger hanging from his back.

"Zuko! What happened? Who is this?"

"I don't know, uncle," Zuko spoke as he approached the ruined building which they had taken refuge in. It did a poor job of keeping out the rain, which had now calmed to only a mild torrent, but it was the only one left not burned to the ground.

Zuko placed the girl on a relatively dry spot on the floor.

"Where did you find her? Is she hurt?"

"I don't know, uncle."

"Quickly, dry her out. We don't want her to catch her death of cold. I'll get a pot of tea brewing."

While Iroh busied himself setting together a fire upon which to brew his tea, Zuko worked on drying the girl out. Taking a deep breath he laid his hands on the girl and as he moved them steam rose from both Zuko and the unconscious girl. It was a strange experience for Zuko, roaming his hands around an unconscious body, and at certain points he had to raise his hands away and use hotter flames in order to avoid any embarrassment. He grimaced.

As Zuko moved down her arms he became fascinated with her strange bracer. From the outside it should elicit no remark, but inspecting the inside showed a complex mechanism and some sort of hooked blade. He was about to reach out to remove the bracer when a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. He fell back with a yell, nearly crashing into his Uncle.

Zuko and Iroh both watched the girl slowly rise to a sitting position. She rubbed the back of her neck and rolled her shoulder before turning to look watch uncle and nephew from under her hood. Her voice was quiet, but polite.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"My name is Mushi, and this is my nephew, Lee. Right now you're in… Lee where are we?"

"I'm not sure uncle, some ruined Earth Kingdom village."

"Earth… Kingdom?"

"Yes, Earth Kingdom, what were you expecting? Fire Nation?"

"No, I was expecting somewhere real. Instead, you tell me a fantasy."

Zuko and Iroh looked to eachother. "So, what? You think she got hit on the head?"

"Zuko… Where did you say this girl came from again?"

"I didn't say because I don't know. I was just out on the mountain when there was a lightning strike. I-"

"Did you say lightning?" the girl asked, moving forward. "What colour was it?"

"… Yellow… Why?" Zuko asked, but the girl ignored him.

She raised her hand to her chin then she frantically patted herself down as if looking for something.

"What are you looking for, young lady?"

"A box. When you found me did I have a small wood paneled box?"

"No."

The girl deflated. "Oh no… It couldn't be… Am I in the world of the box? Please, can either of you draw me a map of the world? The countries?"

"What, why?"

"I may be able to recognize it."

"Of course young lady. I'll do what I can, but later. We have no paper, and I'd rather not get completely soaked."

The girl just looked out the window of the dilapidated building. "… I suppose it can wait."

"Excellent. Now, please, have some tea. I've made it myself."

The girl hesitated before pulling down her hood. She reached out and took the steaming cup from Iroh's outstretched hand. She nodded in thanks and took a sip. "Thank you," she said. "This tea is excellent."

"Oh, you're very kind," Iroh said, smiling widely and pouring another cup for Zuko. "So, if I may ask, what happens to be your name young lady?"

The girl took another sip before answering. "I'll answer," she said." But I'd like to know your names first."

"We already told you." Zuko said flatly. "I'm Lee and he's Mushi."

"No. You are Zuko."

"How-"

"Your uncle slipped and called you by your real name," she said with a small smile as Zuko glowered at his uncle who gave a bashful grin and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oops. My bad," Iroh said grinning. "Oh well, we may as well come clean. It seems that our friend here is lost, and being dishonest will only serve to misguide her. My name is Iroh."

"Thank you. My name is Shao Jun."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Shao Jun."

"Please, call me Jun."


End file.
